Feral mom is totally warming up to me!

Ok so I found a mom and kittens. At first contact she totally hissed at me in fear. Just yesterday, don't know what happened cuz I wasn't feeding her, she was really feeling almost totally confident in me by letting me stroke her fur. Now her kittens are totally frightened. Why is that the mom is sorta friendly and her young are sooooo scared?

She likely isn't truly feral - just skittish and unsure of what you wanted at first. She would never let you that near if she was a feral. Her kittens on the other hand will be unless they start getting human contact.
I bet the poor girl was a cat someone dumped out when she was no longer a "cute kitten" or when she got pregnant.

Wet food works wonders, and if you can get some KMR formula to mix in with it for both the kittens and the mother to eat it will help all of them out. (extra nutrients for momma cat that probably hasn't had the best of food the last few weeks)

I see. Thanx for the insight on this situation. Unfortunately, i've really naive when it comes to feral cats. Myla is my first feral adoption.

I have noticed a calming affect of good food on my stray. She looks better than she used to. I put Advantage on her so she is flea free which I hope translates to her kittens too.
Anyway she trusts me and my family because we feed her and give her water.
Wet food is even better.
You can get the kittens to open up with good food too. If the mother warms they may warm a little too.

Originally Posted by oOoMissEoOo

I see. Thanx for the insight on this situation.

Unfortunately, i've really naive when it comes to feral cats. Myla is my first feral adoption.

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ah, so they are already inside and safe staying with you?? Excellent!

with time and some work, the kittens will also be adorable adoptable kittens, just as homemade.

I agree this mom is probably dumped homecat. this will make the whole easier for you.

Good luck and keep us informed!


But the fact is also truly feral moms surprisingly often do copy quite well with such situations. After being catched and taken in, at first they are of course afraid, angry, may have a VERY forceful defensive agresiveness at first.
But left alone, they cool down, and after realising nobody wants their harm and really nothing threats them - they do accept the situation. They are still very shy but nonaggressive, and lets the human foster to handle the kittens without protests.

Thus we learn they are like most human mothers: the most important for them is not "freedom" but safety and wellbeing for their children.

And with time, most/many of these ex-moders gets tame they too.

I am going through this right now. The mom is likely feral, and not stray. She hisses and growls when I come near. But she's been growling less when I am feeding her. I sit on the ground with her, but after she eats, she cowers back into the corner where her babies are. The kittens are about 3 weeks old.

I want to trap the whole family, but I can't seem to get at her. And she doesn't leave my shed, so I can't get at the kittens. They are behind/under a pile of bricks/rock/wood.

If I am able to get the kittens without her .... will she follow me to my garage? I know I need to get at them so they can start having human contact, but I also don't want to separate them too soon. Any advice?

I took my first two in at 5 and 6 weeks. If you can trap her and get her into a safer place then you can get the kittens and keep them together for at least until the kittens can eat wet food. Around 6 weeks you should be able to get them and socialize them. Mine are doing fine.

Originally Posted by kittysback

but after she eats, she cowers back into the corner where her babies are. The kittens are about 3 weeks old.

I want to trap the whole family, but I can't seem to get at her. And she doesn't leave my shed, so I can't get at the kittens. They are behind/under a pile of bricks/rock/wood.

If I am able to get the kittens without her .... will she follow me to my garage? I know I need to get at them so they can start having human contact, but I also don't want to separate them too soon. Any advice?

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As no one of the very experienced one answers, I try. But make a search, there are previous threads about such.

As now, the kittens are small and you know where they are. thus good possibility to trap the mom, and easy to collect the kittens soon afterwards. (otherwise this is the big danger, if you cant find the kittens. They are doomed out there without mom. and if they are big enough to move freely they perhaps wont let themselves be catched...).

Use a trap on the mom, dont catch even if you can. She will not connect the trap with you, and will not lose her beginning confidence for you. Thus, when you release her in her new quarters and she had the necessary time to cool down, you can start your relationsship anew - and built on.



About getting the kittens first, and using them as bait for catching the mom. I dont know if I would dare, but I know people has tried this successfully. The most common is to place the kittens as bait behind the trap, so the mom goes into the trap.
But I have also read of examples when they were simply inside the house, and the mom went after them into the house...
It should be easier with a garage.


Last, but not least. In some variations you may find it useful to use a dog cage when they are catched. Or an exibitions cage. Works well if you need to have a feral there a couple of days. But one forumist uses to do the whole fostering work inside a big dog cage.

Originally Posted by StefanZ

As no one of the very experienced one answers, I try.
About getting the kittens first, and using them as bait for catching the mom. I dont know if I would dare, but I know people has tried this successfully. The most common is to place the kittens as bait behind the trap, so the mom goes into the trap.
But I have also read of examples when they were simply inside the house, and the mom went after them into the house...
It should be easier with a garage.

Last, but not least. In some variations you may find it useful to use a dog cage when they are catched. Or an exibitions cage. Works well if you need to have a feral there a couple of days. But one forumist uses to do the whole fostering work inside a big dog cage.

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Lucia, my stray tried to come in when she heard her baby crying. She looked up at the bathroom and cried too. It broke my heart to see her in distress but I knew for the kittens sake it was the right thing to do.